Soul Urge II

*omega13: Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I've got to say, I never once thought of pairing Link with Talim...after all, he's spoken for...many times over....what with Illia, Midna, Malon, Marin, Saria, Ruto, Medli and, of course, Zelda all after the chance to jump him, giving him a girl in an alternate dimension seems a little cold.
*QJD: I am so terribly sorry that you found the last chapter to be in poor taste. How was I supposed to know you hated Cassandra that much? Tell me who you would rather I paired Yoshimitsu (obviously your favorite guy) and I'll see if I can write a one-shot...just for you! >8)

Soul Urge II
By The Playing Mantis
Chapter 6: For The Love Of Taki

Her shadow moves with stealth, and disappears into darkness…
---Toki; when using Taki as an example for new recruits

Taki exited the room that Sophitia and Cassandra were resting in and gave them both a silent prayer before rushing out of the house. “I know where Nightmare is,” she said to herself. “But where is that lunk head, Mitsurugi? Seung Mina supposedly ran into him somewhere near Korea, but that was quite a while ago. Who knows where he is now?” She sighed as she stopped to take a short rest underneath a tree. She had barely had the chance to sit down when she suddenly rolled to the side as three Kunai flew into the tree. Taki sighed again as she ran her fingers through her hair and calmly asked, “How many of you did Toki send this time?”

“Master Toki sent us,” said a muffled voice as five ninja appeared in front of her. “We have been sent to kill you and retrieve the Soul Edge fragments.”

“I don’t have them all, you know,” said Taki.

“Of course not,” said the first ninja. “But, we have found Mitsurugi, so we know where to look for the last one.”

“Idiot,” thought Taki, “Giving up vital information like that. And he must not know of the priestess or the beast.” She looked the five up and down, they didn’t appear to be all that special, but it could all be a ruse to make her lower her guard. Fortunately for Taki, she never let her guard down. “Well then, come at me, if you think you can win,” she said with a hint of a smile on her face. The five ninja vanished, but Taki merely yawned before she brought out her twin ninja swords, Rekki-Maru and Mekki-Maru and vanished as well. Five seconds later, four of the five ninja were dead and laying at Taki’s feet. The remaining one was being held up by the lapels with Rekki-Maru held at his throat. “If you tell me where Mitsurugi is, I’ll let you die with as little pain as possible.”

“I don’t fear pain,” scoffed the ninja.

“Maybe not,” said Taki, “But I’m a hunter of evil spirits. I could use you as bait. I know of a particularly nasty one that will consume your soul until you’re nothing but an empty husk of human flesh. Would you like that?”

“You wouldn’t dare!” hissed the ninja.

“Try me!” said Taki severely.

The ninja looked into Taki’s eyes and could see nothing but cold, hard hatred in them. She would make good on her threat. He sighed and hung his head. “He’s back in Japan. He’s been sighted working as a bodyguard at Kaminoi Castle”

Taki smiled to herself before she looked at the ninja and said, “Thank you. May you make smarter choices of whom you align yourself with in your next life.” The ninja merely narrowed his eyes before Taki slit his throat. “Why is he there?” she wondered as she dropped the body and headed off. “And how am I going to torment him when we meet this time?” she added to herself with a smile.

She traveled across the continent, only stopping for a short while in Korea to see how Seung Mina was doing, before hopping on a boat that was heading for Japan. As she leaned on the bow of the boat, she thought of the conversation she had with Seung Mina. “Mitsurugi looked like he was searching for something when I met him,” Seung Mina had said, “but that was over five months ago, he could very well have given up by now.”

Taki shook her head. “He’s not the type to just give up once he’s set his mind on something,” she said calmly before tossing a throwing star at the window. “Eavesdropping is a very bad idea,” she said sternly.

Seung Mina looked up in time to see a flash of red hair as the person in question ran off. “That idiot,” she sighed. “Don’t worry about him, he’s harmless. He was probably just trying to check you out. I can’t really say I blame him; after all, that outfit of yours doesn’t leave much to the imagination.” She slowly looked Taki up and down and shook her head. Taki wore a red, skin-tight, one-piece body suit with a pattern of a flower on the right calf that looked like it was just painted on. She wore a pair of soft red shoes that allowed her feel her terrain, as well as a pair of brass ankle protectors. A metal band wrapped around her torso, just underneath her huge breasts, and was connected in the back to a piece of leather armor that wrapped up and over both of her shoulders. She had on a pair of iron wrist guards and a pair of iron shoulder guards which were attached to the skin-tight leather armor that she wore under the body suit. Her long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail to give her easy access to her swords. “Damn,” said Seung Mina, “I’m not even gay and I think you’re hot.”

Taki folded her arms over her breasts and laughed a little. “I’m used to reactions like that by now,” she said. “But, this outfit is functional, and that’s all that matters to me.”

Seung Mina shrugged as she turned around. “Believe me, I understand well enough,” she said. “So, are you headed out immediately, or do you want to spend the night?” She turned back and saw that Taki had vanished. “I guess that answers that question,” she mumbled.

That conversation had taken place a few days ago and Taki was still thinking about Seung Mina. “She’s a sweet girl, but she never really had much of a chance against the sword,” said Taki to herself as the boat pulled out of harbor. “It’s sad to think that a beautiful young girl like that would be brutally raped in the way that she was.” Her mind, usually so focused, eventually strayed to the other women that she knew. “Then again, it’s sad to think that any of them were.” She stretched before quickly ducking, barely dodging the arrow that shot over her head. She whirled around and hurled a kunai at the sniper, who fell off of the building and into the sea with a splash. “Ah well,” she said, “No use in worrying about the others. They all appear to be fine. And it’s highly unlikely that I’ll get raped.” She smiled grimly, knowing exactly what she had to do once she got all of the fragments of Soul Edge. “Not very likely at all.” The boat ride was relatively quiet; only having to get rid of three pursuers who were disguised as fishermen. She sighed heavily as she stepped off of the boat and came face to face with another group of five. “I don’t have time to play with you right now,” she said calmly. She didn’t even bother to check if they were all dead before she ran off to confront Mitsurugi.

Mitsurugi was sitting by the exit of Kaminoi Castle: the Sakura-Dai Gate, counting his wages. “That should be enough money to allow me to search for Soul Edge again,” he said to himself. He looked around and breathed deeply. “I will miss this place,” he said quietly, “It is very soothing.” The Kaminoi Castle was built on the top of a large mountain and was considered to be an impregnable fortress, so Mitsurugi’s bodyguard detail was quiet and relaxing. He calmly stood up and took one last long look out onto the horizon. The sun was just peaking over the tops of the mountains and the cherry blossoms were falling from the Sakura tree nearby, landing on the carved stone walkway between the entrance and exit of the castle.

Taki watched him seemingly commune with nature for a short while. It always struck her as slightly odd how such a boorish, violent man could still enjoy the serenity of a sunrise. “Maybe he’s not all bad,” she mumbled to herself. Yet, she still wondered about his audacity to wear the full armor of a samurai when he only had one sword and was a masterless ronin. He even had his hair pulled back in a tight ponytail.

She watched him for a while longer before he suddenly drew his sword and swung, slicing a cherry blossom in half. “Who’s there?!” he roared.

“Someone who’s wondering who you’re trying to fool with that armor…ronin!” laughed Taki as she stood up from her perch on top of the gate and stared down at him, her arms folded across her chest.

“You again?! I’ve had enough of you!” he snarled as he pointed his sword at her.

Taki merely laughed as she said, “You don’t give up, do you?” (This is the original Japanese quote for Taki…and it made sooooo much more sense that I had to use it instead.) She leapt down onto the platform with him and the two got into their battle stances. Taki narrowed her eyes when she saw that Mitsurugi had reversed his blade, ensuring that he wouldn’t kill her. She smiled a little at that little act of chivalry, knowing it to be extremely foolish. With a reversed blade his attacks would be sluggish. “Nothing personal, but I must win!” she said.

“Let’s go!” snarled Mitsurugi impatiently as he ran at Taki and swung his sword.

Taki quickly brought out Rekki-Maru to block, surprised at how fast he was, even with his blade reversed. “Pretty good!” she said as she quickly twirled her sword around before quickly crouching down and attempting to uppercut Mitsurugi with it.

“Swords are not toys!” said Mitsurugi severely as he pulled away at the last second and quickly sheathed his sword. He edged away from Taki, making sure to keep a certain distance from her as he watched her movements carefully.

“Don’t waste my time, let’s go!” said Taki even though she knew that he had the advantage at the moment. She hadn’t even known that he knew Battojutsu (The art of quickly pulling your sword from your sheath and attacking all in one swing, thereby increasing both the speed and power of the stroke). “You’re all show!” she said as she rushed in.

“Namusan!” roared Mitsurugi as he quickly swung his sword directly at Taki and hit…nothing. He looked up and saw that she had quickly flipped over the blow and was diving down at him with both of her swords pointed at him. He dodged out of the way by sidestepping, and grabbed her when she landed. He quickly smacked her in the face with the blunt edge of his sword and threw her to the ground before shoving her away with another swing. “No one will take Soul Edge from me!” he roared triumphantly.

Taki staggered to her feet. Even though he wasn’t trying to kill her, the force of his blows proved that he wasn’t pulling any punches. “I’m through with words,” she said calmly as she raced in, ducked under his sword swing and wrapped her right leg around his throat. As she reached back to grab Rekki-Maru she felt something strange. She looked at Mitsurugi and saw that he had his face buried in her crotch and was smelling her! She quickly brought Rekki-Maru out and smacked it across his face before backflipping away, suddenly feeling very ashamed. “Have you lost your mind?!” she cried.

He had managed to fluster her, like he had planned. But, she did smell pretty good for an obnoxious interloper. He shook his head and said, “This victory is mine!” He ran in and, once again, swung at her. She got out of the way so quickly, that he hadn’t seen her move. But, she didn’t counter. She was just staring at him. “Pretentious fool!” he said as he raced at her again.

Taki’s eye twitched as she easily dodged him again. He was getting frustrated with her not fighting back but she didn’t really care. He had used sex to try and put her off her game, and while it didn’t work, she now had an itch that needed to be scratched, so she needed to figure out how best to get it over with. The opportunity came when he attacked again. She easily blocked the attack and kicked him in the face. She looked down at him and said, “It’s time for you to go home.” She slowly turned around and was leaving when she heard him get up and rush at her. She whirled around and blocked his swing with Rekki-Maru, and now the two were face to face and sword to sword, each trying to force the other’s blade away. Taki grinned a little as she whispered, “Don’t think ill of me.” Mitsurugi looked confused before Taki leaned her head in and kissed him on the lips.

Mitsurugi pulled away and wiped his mouth. “What’s gotten into you woman?!” he asked.

“I’m just trying to finish what you started,” said Taki seductively as she slowly pulled her shoulder guards off before slowly slipping out of her body suit and armor. She stood in front of Mitsurugi, smiling shyly even as she folded her arms underneath her completely exposed breasts, showing off her well-muscled body in all it’s glory.

Mitsurugi stared at Taki, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. How the hell had things gone from a battle over a piece of Soul Edge to her stripping down like that?! He was about to take advantage of that when he stopped, thinking, “I could probably fuck her so much that she passes out and then I could just take her Soul Edge fragments and leave her for whoever else came by.” He smiled to himself as he carefully resheathed his sword and started to pull off his armor. “So, you want a good lay?” he laughed, “You came to the right place.”

Taki smiled pleasantly as she slunk up to Mitsurugi, pulling her hair band out and letting her long black hair spill out onto her shoulders. “I should have thought of this years ago,” she said as she saw his muscular body slowly emerge from all that metal. All of his years of swordplay had made him a trim yet imposing figure, even if he was a little short. He might have even been considered handsome if he didn’t scowl so much. She looked down and gasped in pure astonishment when she saw his penis. It was fully erect already and really big. “It seems I got you all worked up, can I help you with that?” she asked coyly.

Misturugi actually smiled as he said, “Go right ahead.” He folded his arms across his chest, feeling really smug with himself as he watched that annoying ninja woman kneel down in front of him and take his cock in her mouth. He grinned as he watched her slowly bob her head up and down his shaft, occasionally looking up and smiling at him. Maybe he wouldn’t just leave her behind. It would probably be better to tie her up and make her his slave from now on. He chuckled to himself when he thought of her being forced to go down on him whenever he wanted.

“What’s so funny?” panted Taki as she slowly ran her tongue around the head of his cock before running it down and licking his balls.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” said Mitsurugi with an evil grin. “Just keep it up.”

“Actually,” said Taki as she slowly licked and kissed her way up his body, “I was hoping we could move on to the main event right away.” She kissed him again before growling, “I need to feel you inside of me before the day is out!”

Mitsurugi rumbled with laughter. “Well, I didn’t know you were such a slut!” he said. “I guess I can do that little thing for you. Get on your hands and knees!”

Taki bit her lip as she smiled and did as she was told. She got on her hands and knees in front of Mitsurugi and wiggled her butt at him. “Come on!” she whined. “If you want to treat me like a little bitch, then fuck me like one! Do it fast and hard!”

“That was the plan!” said Mitsurugi as he knelt down behind her and grabbed her hips firmly. He thrust his hips against Taki’s once or twice, teasing her as his cock slid across her lips.

“Oh, stop being so cruel!” moaned Taki. “Fuck me already!” Mitsurugi responded by teasing her some more, making her whimper.

“Do you really want it?” sneered Mitsurugi. Taki nodded her head vigorously. “Do you want me to fuck you that badly?”

“I want it!” screamed Taki. “Fuck me! Take me! Fill me! Please!”

“Right!” roared Mitsurugi as he plunged his cock deep into her. “Do you like that?” he asked as he started to thrust harshly into her body.

“Oh yeah!” moaned Taki as she rocked her hips back at him thrust for thrust. “Don’t stop! It’s so good!”

Mitsurugi reached down and gripped Taki’s breasts, saying, “I’ve wanted to grope these melons for years!”

“What’s been holding you back?!” cried Taki.

“Common sense!” said Mitsurugi.

“It’s over rated!” groaned Taki. Taki looked like she was going to say more but merely moaned loud and long as Mitsurugi stepped up his pace slightly.

“What’s the matter?” asked Mitsurugi. “Can’t talk anymore?” Taki nodded as she continued to moan and groan in pleasure. He grinned as he felt her pussy clamp down on him and heard her scream. She had obviously just had an orgasm. “You’ll get many more before I’m done!”

“In…incredible!” panted Taki. “Fuck me harder! Please!”

“Anything you want,” said Mitsurugi. He started ramming himself in and out of her tight and wet opening, making her scream.

“Yes!” she cried. “Yes! Like that! Just like that! Oh god! Fuck me!”

Mitsurugi gritted his teeth. “Is she getting tighter?!” he muttered to himself. She was starting to thrust back at him harder and faster than he could keep up with. “What is she…oh god…Here it comes!” He roared as he came inside of Taki.

“Yes!” screamed Taki as she felt Mitsurugi’s hot cum flow into her, she clamped down on his cock and thrust back onto him as she rode out her orgasm before slowly coming to a stop and lying on the ground, panting.

“How was that?” asked Mitsurugi as he pulled out of her.

“Not bad at all,” said Taki in a calm and even voice as she slowly stood up. “Good night!”

Mitsurugi looked up at her grinning face and suddenly felt very sleepy. “Damn…you…” he grumbled before keeling over.

Taki smiled down at Mitsurugi’s snoring form for a second before slowly sinking to her knees. “Damn…” she sighed. “I didn’t think I’d really orgasm from that asshole.” She got up and put her clothes back on before going through Mitsurugi’s things and getting his Soul Edge fragment. “Sorry big guy,” she said, “but, I beat you fair and square before this.” She had to admit that she hadn’t expected the aphrodisiac lipstick to work quite so well against him. It made the victim extremely susceptible to commands while making them think their way around the commands to get them to actually want to follow them. “Good thing the stuff knocks them out after they cum the first time, I might have actually started to fall for him,” she said with a smirk as she gently placed some clothes over his body and leapt away.

Taki caught another boat back to the continent, killing a few more pesky assassins along the way, and made a quick stop off at a bar to see if there was any information about the young girl or the big monster. “Sorry,” said the bartender, “I haven’t seen anyone like that. But, then again, kids aren’t allowed in here.”

Taki winced at her own stupidity before quietly thanking the man and leaving. “Dammit!” she hissed. “Looks like I have no choice then.” She sighed as she left the town and calmly waited for the next attempt on her life. After she had killed most of her attackers, she managed to capture one of them and grill him for information. “Alright, let’s cut to the chase!” she snarled. “Where’s the priestess?!”

“What priestess?” asked the ninja calmly.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” snapped Taki. “The priestess with the Soul Edge fragment!”

“I have no idea,” replied the ninja before smiling and biting down hard. Taki heard a small crunch sound before the ninja convulsed a little and fell limp.

“God Dammit!” shouted Taki as she threw the dead ninja away. “Stupid cyanide pills.” She decided to just go and see what she could find out from the other people searching for Soul Edge, and seeing as how they were the closest she found herself back at the Seung Dojo.

“A young girl, that looks like a priestess?” asked Seung Mina. “No, I’ve never seen anyone like that. But you might want to ask Yunsung about it.”

“Fine,” said Taki as she silently walked over to the window, reached out and yanked Yunsung into the room. “Have you seen her?”

Yunsung sputtered a little until he saw exactly how pissed off Seung Mina and Taki were before he humbly said, “Yeah, I saw her.” Taki dropped him to the ground and stood over him with her arms folded. “I ran into her in Spain. She was being followed but I helped her get away. I didn’t see what way she was going, but I heard one of the hundred men I beat mumble the word Germany. But that was before I even got the shards from Ivy, she’s got to be somewhere else by now.”

“Maybe, but it’s a lead, regardless of how slim it is, and how unreliable the source too,” said Taki. “Thank you both.” She bowed and started to leave but stopped suddenly and turned to face Yunsung. “Next time you wish to spy on me,” she said, “be prepared to lose something important to you.” She smiled as she tossed a throwing star between his legs, just missing him. Yunsung let out a very unmanly squeak as Seung Mina giggled and Taki left.

“See ya around!” Taki heard Seung Mina yell as she leapt out of the dojo compound and dashed away.

“Germany?” thought Taki. “I hope she didn’t go straight to Ostrheinsburg Chapel. She doesn’t stand a chance against Nightmare.” She was in Switzerland when she overheard a small group of people whispering about a small girl being followed by a huge green beast.

“That’s right,” said one of the people, “The child seemed so sweet. She was talking with a pair of guys who looked like mercenaries when that thing just came out of nowhere, attacked the two mercs, snatched her up and leapt away.”

“Which way did they go?!” asked Taki.

“Don’t worry about it,” said the person. “The two guys that she was talking with volunteered to go and find her.”

“I didn’t ask that!” snarled Taki as she grabbed the man by his lapels. “I asked where they went!”

“Well, I heard the smaller man say something about laying a trap in the Lakeside Coliseum,” said the man timidly. “It’s about three miles west of here inside a cave.”

“Thank you,” said Taki quickly before she dropped the man and dashed off, hoping to get to the girl before it was too late. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, which is pretty fast, until an arrow whizzed past her head, making her stop. “I don’t have time for this right now!” she roared. “A little girl is in a lot of danger! Try to kill me later!”

“Worry about your own skin before others, traitor!” snapped the ninja with the bow as ten others sprang up around him. “You won’t be doing much else after we’re done with you!”

Taki quickly eyed her opponents up. They all had the markings of high-ranking ninja. She would actually have a fight on her hands. “One thing,” she said. “If I die here, do me the honor of saving that girl for me.”

“We’ll save her Soul Edge fragment, at least,” laughed the ninja with the bow. “But, I could see us saving her…if she’s attractive enough to give us some fun afterwards!”

Taki growled as all of the ninja laughed nastily. “I’ll see you all in hell for that,” she hissed. The ninja continued to laugh until the leader suddenly fell over dead with a throwing star embedded in his forehead. It hadn’t looked like Taki had moved. She merely smiled at them and disappeared.

“Dammit!” snarled one of the remaining ninja as they all disappeared as well, reappearing one by one as they were taken down. When the last ninja appeared and fell to the ground, Taki appeared as well. She looked a little winded and there was a small cut on her cheek, but she was otherwise unharmed.

“Bastards,” she hissed as she put her swords away and continued to race towards the coliseum. “Please, let me be on time.” She made it to the coliseum without running into any more assassins, but heard the sounds of shouting, screaming and roaring. She quickly raced inside and stopped dead when she saw what was going on. There were four people in a large, caged in, arena in the center of the coliseum. The big green monster had the priestess in it’s clutches, and there were two other people on the small, caged in, platform. The first was a small man with a short sword who kept his face covered with cloth and the other was a huge man with a battle ax and a horned, full-face mask. The two who were supposed to work for Nightmare! If Taki didn’t do something, the girl was going to be in serious trouble.

“Last chance! Give us the girl and we’ll let you go free,” said the smaller man. The beast roared at him and clutched the girl even tighter. The girl was surprisingly calm considering her circumstances.

“Let her go!!!” screamed Taki as she hurled three kunai at the monster.

The monster roared angrily as it reached up it’s huge clawed hand and smacked two of her kunai away with a great sword made of pure energy. The third kunai made it past him, but not the priestess, who smacked it away with a small bladed tonfa. “Leave us be!” she said proudly. “We can handle these two by ourselves.” She stared at Taki for a few seconds before nodding and leaping out of the beast’s arms. “You also seek to destroy the sword!” she cried. “Take these!” The girl hurled a pair of metal shards at Taki, which she easily caught. She looked at the girl in confusion. “Go!” cried the girl, “before these people get to you! May the wind protect you!” The girl and the beast looked at each other and nodded quietly before attacking the other two.

Taki stared at the two and then at the shards in her hands. The girl and the beast were fighting together. She shook her head and silently bowed to show her respect for the girl before turning and leaving. “She’s stronger than I imagined,” she said to herself. “This is it. I have them all except for the one held by Nightmare himself. He’ll be stronger just because of the proximity of all of these shards. They’re, admittedly, weaker than they should be, due to the love generated by the women holding them, but I wonder if that alone will be enough to help me win.” She suddenly stopped and looked back. The path behind her was strewn with dead ninjas. She looked at the fresh blood on her blades before shrugging and continuing onward.

Taki ran as fast as she could, which was very easy considering the lack of assassins on her tail, not stopping until she stood in front of the ruined Ostrheinsburg Chapel. She panted heavily before watching the sun slowly rise, amazed that she made it there from the coliseum in the span of a night. She shuddered at the huge amount of evil she felt flowing from the building, but steeled herself and entered. The chapel was quiet as a tomb, rubble all over and one wall missing entirely. The only thing that appeared to still be in decent shape was the huge pipe organ that ran up to the second floor on the opposite side of the building. She stared up at it in wonder before she froze. A bell was ringing close by. The chapel bell was ringing. “You finally arrived,” boomed a voice that reverberated through the dilapidated ruin. Taki whirled around, looking all over for the source of the voice until she heard the familiar clank of metal armor echoing all around her.

“Where are you?!” she screamed. She was answered when she heard the pipe organ start to play. She looked over at it and was surprised to hear beautiful music being played by Nightmare. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Playing the Dies Irae for your funeral,” said Nightmare calmly.

“The mass of the dead, cute,” said Taki. “Nice playing, by the way.”

“There’s really little else to do to occupy my time while waiting for my next victim to arrive,” said Nightmare as he slammed his huge, monstrous hand into the keyboard, destroying it. He turned to face her and said, “There’s little you can hope to do to save yourself. Why don’t you just give up now?”

“That doesn’t sound like something you’d normally say,” said Taki coolly. “Are you alright? I could come back later.”

Nightmare laughed harshly. “Just trying to give you a little bit of hope before I crushed it with my fist!” he said, “but if you’re not interested in playing along, I guess I’ll just have to kill you.”

“You were planning on doing that anyway,” said Taki with a smile, hoping if she could keep him talking she could come up with a better plan of how to defeat him. “I do appreciate the fact that your presence kept those assassins away from me.”

“They came here a few times,” said Nightmare with a shrug. “They don’t come anywhere near anymore.” Taki repressed a small shudder as she looked her opponent up and down. Nightmare was covered from head to toe in dark blue armor that bore a large black eye on the breastplate. The helmet had two long, wing-shaped horns protruding from the top. The only parts of his body that weren’t covered were his right arm and eyes. The small slit in his face mask showed that his skin was a dull brown and his eyes were a bright red with yellow irises. His right arm was a huge clawed appendage that had spikes sticking from it, and only three fingers. His bright red hair spilled out from his helmet and reached down to his hips. In his left hand was a huge two-handed sword with a blinking eye in the center whose very presence made Taki shiver. “Shall we get this over with?” asked Nightmare as he raised his sword and pointed it at Taki.

“I doubt you’d put your sword down if I said no,” said Taki.

“That would be highly unlikely,” agreed Nightmare.

“Just thought I’d bring that thought to the forefront,” said Taki as she disappeared. She reappeared right next to Nightmare and kicked at him. He easily caught her leg and held her, upside down, in front of his face.

“Pathetic,” he scoffed as he tossed her away.

Taki landed on her feet and looked back at Nightmare, gritting her teeth in frustration. “He’s going to be even more of a problem than I thought,” she said to herself. She steeled herself before standing up and staring at him. “Well, let’s make this a little more interesting, shall we?” she asked.

“Interesting?” mused Nightmare, “You mean you want to make a bet based on the battle?”

“That’s right,” said Taki. “You already plan on killing me if you win, but what do I get if I win?”

“I guess keeping your life is too much to ask for you greedy humans,” sneered Nightmare.

“Don’t you pull that ‘Holier Than Thou’ crap on me,” snapped Taki. “You’re human too, you know.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” said Nightmare. “I am not human. Would a human be able to kill so many people without remorse? Would a human be able to become stronger by absorbing the souls of the defeated? Would a human be able to kill his own father?!” Nightmare hesitated before gripping his head and stumbling back. “Father…? I killed…my father…? No! It wasn’t me, it was a mysterious brigand! That’s why I needed the sword! To avenge my father’s death! But I…but I…” Nightmare started banging his head against the pipe organ, screaming, “It was me! It was me!” He let out an inhuman shriek of rage and pain as he quickly turned and raced at Taki. “You!” he screamed in a voice that wasn’t his own, “Stop interfering!” Taki quickly leapt away, unsure of what was going on, but knowing that she had hit a nerve. She quickly jumped from pillar to pillar until she was standing on the second floor of the chapel.

“It’ll take him a few minutes to get up here,” she muttered as she looked around and got a sense of her surroundings. The floor she was on had mostly crumbled away, leaving only a small balcony for anyone to actually stand on. The east wall was lined with stained glass windows showing warriors putting down their weapons in reverence. The west wall was almost completely destroyed and only held the shattered remains of windows. On the north wall was a huge stained glass window that showed more warriors, but had a strange surreal quality to it, like it could actually draw you in. She shook it off and looked around some more, but there was no where to run to. “Dammit,” she cursed, “Backed into a corner.” She looked across the gap in the floor to the pipe organ and considered jumping to it when a huge crash caused her to look down over the edge of the platform. She quickly backed away, the fear apparent on her face. Nightmare was using his huge clawed hand to climb up one of the pillars.

“Get back here, little girl!” roared Nightmare as he leapt the rest of the way up onto the platform with her. “I’ll have so much fun listening to you scream when I rape your broken and battered body!”

“I haven’t told you what I should win if I beat you,” said Taki as she backed away from him.

“It doesn’t matter!” roared Nightmare. “When I win, you’ll feel pain and torment like you’ve never felt before! Those Soul Edge shards will finally have the power necessary to heal this sword! Inferno will come again and I will control him! If you’re really good, I might even let you keep your pathetic soul and make you my personal slave! Would you like that?”

“Looks like I don’t have any choice then,” sighed Taki. She leapt away from him and tossed a pair of kunai at him.

Nightmare easily blocked her weapons before twirling his sword over his head and roaring, “Sword, give me strength!”

Taki landed from her leap and said, “I don’t care who you are!” Taki couldn’t help but shiver a little as she saw Nightmare’s eyes narrow at her. He was slow, but he was powerful. This wouldn’t be an easy battle for her. “It’s useless to resist!” she roared as she suddenly ran forward and stabbed at him with both of her swords. They weren’t able to penetrate his armor and he merely swung his sword around.

Taki barely dodged his attack by backflipping away. She heard him say, “Begone!” as she dodged, the sword barely missing her. She quickly flipped over him and struck from behind with Rekki-Maru, but even the armor on his back was too strong for her to be able to stab him. “Come on! Come on!! Come on!!!” laughed Nightmare. He hadn’t fought a decent opponent in quite a while and was enjoying himself. He spun around and stabbed forward with his sword, twirling it around so it acted like a drill.

Taki quickly sidestepped the attack and said, “You need more than that to beat me.” She stepped in and grabbed Nightmare by the shoulders and kneed him in the groin. Nightmare let out a small groan of pain as he fell to his knees. Taki took the opportunity to leap onto his shoulders, pushing him to his hands and knees before backflipping in place, smashing him down into the floor. She quickly backed away, saying, “Stay down!”

“Blood, darkness, come unto me!” snarled Nightmare as he got up and dashed at Taki. Taki quickly sidestepped him, but he was ready for it and did a quick slide kick at her, sending her to the ground. “This is the end!” he growled triumphantly as he twirled around and brought his sword down on her.

Taki’s eyes widened as she watched the blade come down. She rolled to the side at the last second and got up, doing a spin kick to get Nightmare away from her. “No use,” she muttered. She wiped the sweat from her brow. That last blow had been too close for comfort. The two warriors watched each other carefully. Nightmare currently had the advantage, but they both knew that if he made one mistake the advantage could move to Taki instead. “It’s time for you to sleep,” said Taki as she raced forward, tumbling underneath his sword swing and repeatedly kicking him, making sure her blows landed in his armor’s weak spots.

Nightmare took the blows until he saw the opening he was looking for. “You’re mine!” he roared as he grabbed her by the throat with his monstrous hand, bent her over and slammed the hilt of his sword into her back. Taki cried out before Nightmare tightened his grip on her throat and pulled her up. He sneered at the pain apparent on her face before tossing her away. “My thirst is endless!”

Taki choked back tears of pain as she slowly staggered to her feet and looked at Nightmare through blurry eyes. She shook her head, but that only made her feel more lightheaded. She coughed a little before wiping a small amount of blood from her mouth. “Say your prayers, lost soul!” she sneered, trying hard to hide the fact that she wasn’t able to see straight. She dashed in and attacked with both of her swords, whirling around like a dervish, and hoping to hit him.

Nightmare easily blocked her strikes with his sword. He kicked her in the stomach before punching her in the face, sending her flying into the wall. She slowly slid down the wall and landed in a heap. “I will show you…the greatest nightmare!” he said as he stomped up to her.

Taki staggered to her feet and coughed up another small amount of blood before saying, “I’ll kill myself before I let you touch me.” She leaned against the wall and stared defiantly at Nightmare as she brought out Rekki-Maru and slowly brought it to her throat.

“Go ahead then,” said Nightmare. “When the news of your death reaches the ears of all those that you’ve met and befriended, it will cause quite a bit of grief and anguish. Just what this sword needs.”

“You’re putting to much faith in me,” said Taki. “No one would care if I died. My entire clan wants me dead…and my family is gone.”

“I’m not talking about them,” snapped Nightmare. “What about that Korean bitch that you just spent some time with? Or those sisters in Greece? How will they feel when they hear that their friend is dead? I bet even that old pawn of mine that you fought 4 years ago will feel a twinge of regret at the news of your passing!”

Taki thought for a second before slowly hanging her head and dropping the sword to the ground. “You’re right,” she mumbled. “They do care about me. I’ve been careless.” She looked up at Nightmare and was surprised to feel tears running down her cheeks. “But it doesn’t matter!” she cried. “They won’t even realize that I’m gone! No one will!” She reached down and grabbed the sword again, and placing it over her heart.

“So, you’re just going to leave those Soul Edge fragments in my capable hands then?” he asked with an evil grin. Taki froze in place. She looked down at her belt and winced when she saw the Soul Edge fragments that she had forgotten to hide before entering the chapel. “Not that it would have mattered,” said Nightmare. “I would have sensed them if they were close by anyway. I must thank you for bringing them here for me.” He chuckled a little before saying, “If you’re going to kill yourself, I suggest you go about doing it soon.” He slowly walked up to her, stopping when they were face to face. They stared at each other for a short while before Taki’s shoulders slumped, she dropped her sword again and collapsed to the ground.

“Dammit…” she muttered as Nightmare jabbed Soul Edge into the ground next to her. She gritted her teeth as she heard a rustling of fabric. She trembled as she looked up and barely kept herself from vomiting as she saw Nightmare’s cock peeking out from the side of his crotch guard. It was black and covered with a thin film of viscous slime that was slowly dripping off of it. “Oh god…” she choked.

“Don’t think that that aphrodisiac lipstick will work on me,” said Nightmare. “You won’t get anywhere near my lips, bitch! However, you could use your lips right now.” He gripped Taki’s head with his monstrous hand and guided it to his cock.

“No!” hissed Taki through clenched teeth. How had he known about her lipstick? She hadn’t mentioned it in front of him.

“I’ve seen everything that’s happened to all of you girls while you held the shards,” said Nightmare. “Sophitia getting gangbanged by Lizardmen, Xianghua getting fucked in the ass by Astaroth, Ivy screaming for more from Cervantes, Seung Mina getting double-teamed by Voldo and the possessed Yunsung and Cassandra losing her virginity to Charade! I saw it all! Even the more consensual sexual acts you all performed.”

“What about the priestess girl?!” cried Taki. Unfortunately, in opening her mouth, Nightmare was able to shove his cock in her mouth. Taki gagged on the foul taste of the slime and the size of his member as he started to roughly thrust into her mouth.

“Nothing happened to her other than befriending Necrid after she kicked his sorry ass,” growled Nightmare. “I was most disappointed in him. She would have given up so much pain and suffering if he had raped her, but that doesn’t matter. I have all of the shards now, and you’re sucking me off. Life is good.”

“Gonna…kill…you…” growled Taki when she could.

“Yes, I’m sure you’d like to try,” said Nightmare with a sneer, “but you don’t really have the ability to, now do you?” To prove his point, Nightmare stopped thrusting into her mouth and, instead, started moving her head along his cock. “Why don’t you use that tongue of yours?” he asked. “It’ll be over quicker. And then I can fuck you for real.” Taki closed her eyes for a second and let him do as he wished. Suddenly, her eyes shot open and she reached up and started stroking Nightmare’s cock, wincing in disgust at the texture of the slime coating it. Nightmare groaned as Taki’s one hand stroked him while the other fondled his balls, all while she licked and sucked on him. He looked down and his eyes narrowed as he saw a huge blush growing on her face. “What do you think you’re doing?” he growled. He groaned with pleasure even as he tried to stop Taki, but he found himself unable to. “What…? No!” he roared as he found himself thrusting forward and shooting his cum into her mouth. Taki looked up at him with a smile as she swallowed every last drop, not even letting any leak out of the corners of her mouth.

“Did you like that?” asked Taki.

“What the fuck did you do?!” roared Nightmare as he fell back, landing in a seated position.

“I did something that caught you off guard,” said Taki simply as she slowly crawled over to Nightmare. “You made a major miscalculation, Nightmare. You can’t rape a willing girl.” She winked at him before whirling around and stabbing Mekki-Maru into the eye of Soul Edge. Nightmare screamed and grabbed his head as Taki quickly jumped away from the sword. The eye spewed a black ichor that bubbled and sizzled on the ground that it touched. Taki slowly edged her way over and dragged Nightmare’s flailing body away from the acidic ooze. “The power of Soul Edge is weakening in you,” said Taki quietly. “Fight it, Siegfried.”

“Must…kill…girl…” muttered Nightmare, “Get pain…heal self…RAPE HER!!!” Taki gasped as Nightmare’s monster hand grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the ground. Taki looked up at him and her eyes widened as she watched Nightmare’s red hair slowly turn blonde. “No!” roared Nightmare. “I won’t die…not like this!” Nightmare’s normal hand held Taki down as the giant claw ripped her outfit off of her in one slashing motion.

Taki cried out in shock before growling and reaching up. She grabbed Nightmare’s helmet and started tugging on it. “Take that damn armor off, Siegfried!” she said angrily.

“Let go of that!” screamed Nightmare as he grabbed her hands and slammed them down to the floor. “Nothing will save you from me now.” He snarled at Taki for a second before slamming his cock deep into her. Taki cried out, not in pain, but in pleasure. “What?!” cried Nightmare.

“Didn’t I tell you?” asked Taki as she wrapped her legs around his waist, “You can’t rape a willing girl! Now fuck me like you mean it!”

“No!” screamed Nightmare as Taki started thrusting her hips up at him. “Stop it!” Nightmare grabbed his head again, releasing Taki’s hands. Her hands shot up and this time found the clasps to his helmet. She snapped them open and started to tug. Nightmare roared in pain as Taki slowly pulled the helmet from his head even as she continued to fuck him. As the helmet was pulled from him, a strange transformation came over him. His skin turned a normal shade, if not a little pale, and his eyes went back to their normal color of blue.

“Siegfried!” gasped Taki as she tossed the helmet away.

“Help me…” growled Nightmare, “Will strong…body weak…I’ll hold myself back as long as I can!” Taki understood what was going on as soon as Nightmare rolled over onto his back, taking Taki with him. Taki continued to pump her hips up and down on him as she fumbled with the straps of his armor. She looked down at Nightmare’s face and saw the pain that was there. She felt sympathy for him and suddenly leaned in and kissed him on the forehead. “What was that for?” groaned Nightmare.

“I…I don’t really know,” said Taki. She shook her head, not wanting to waste any more time. Sweat was pouring off of her body as she was getting closer and closer to orgasm. She knew if she came before she got the armor off, she would be toast. She finally managed to slip Nightmare’s gauntlet off before finding the clasps to the breastplate. “Almost there,” panted Taki. “Don’t give up on me yet.” As she unsnapped the clasps on the armor, Nightmare’s clawed hand reached up and grabbed her throat. She looked down at him with alarm.

“Don’t…stay alive…pain…kill…” muttered Nightmare angrily before his normal hand reached up and grabbed his other wrist. “I’ll see you in hell before I give in again!” he hollered as he pulled his hand away from Taki’s throat and nodded.

Taki ripped the chest piece from Nightmare’s body. Nightmare unleashed an inhuman shriek of agony as his upper body returned to normal. But, his clawed hand remained. “What?” cried Taki even as she sped up her pumping. She was so close to cumming. All that was left was his leg armor, but she was so close. “Oh god…” she moaned as she gave in to the pleasure and started to really fuck him. “The slime on your dick feels so good!”

“Shit!” growled Nightmare. “Taki! Get a hold of yourself!” Taki groaned as she grabbed her breasts and started squeezing them. “That’s not what I meant!” screamed Nightmare.

“What?” gasped Taki. “Oh, sorry!” She blushed as she slowed down her humping and slowly turned around. She was reaching for his boots when Nightmare’s claw suddenly grabbed her by the waist and started pumping her furiously. “Oh god! Yes!” screamed Taki. “So good! Keep it up! I’m gonna cum!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” said Nightmare angrily. He rolled them both over so that he was on top and holding her in place with his hips. “Take the boots off first!” he cried.

Taki fought off her sexual urges, realizing that her need for survival took precedence. She gritted her teeth as she felt the clawed hand grinding her hips against Nightmare’s. “Must…focus…” she moaned. “So good…” She reached out trembling fingers and undid the clasps on Nightmare’s boots before slowly sliding them off of him. “Can’t…hold out…anymore…” she panted heavily as she rolled them over onto Nightmare’s back again and started fucking him with reckless abandon. “I don’t care if I die!” she moaned as she spun around and started kissing him, “This feels so good! I can’t stop!” She pumped her hips furiously up and down Nightmare’s cock before she felt his body stiffen. Nightmare roared with anger as she felt his seed splash her womb. This triggered her own orgasm and she screamed with joy as she arched her back. She slowly fell forward, landing softly on Nightmare’s chest. “I…I couldn’t…hold out…I’m sorry…” she sobbed

“Taki…” groaned Nightmare happily. “Don’t worry, I can handle the rest.” He gently pulled her off of his shrinking cock and laid her onto the floor before reaching down and pulling the last of his armor off. “I’m free…at last…” said Siegfried Schtauffen as he kicked the foul armor away. He looked down at his huge clawed hand and sighed. (Picture him in his second costume…but naked. Fan girls may swoon now.) “I’ll probably bear this burden for the rest of my days, but that’s fine.” He looked over at Taki and smiled. “Thank you so much.”

“My pleasure…literally,” said Taki quietly with a small laugh. She pushed herself up before looking over at the sword. “It’s over now…right?”

“I don’t think so…” said Siegfried. “Those shards are still emanating an intense evil aura. And so is the sword. You weakened it enough for me to release myself, but it’s not dead yet.”

“What should we do then?” asked Taki.

“I don’t know,” said Siegfried. “Let me think for a bit.” Taki slowly stood up on shaky legs before shivering as a chill wind blew past her. She looked around for the remnants of her outfit and slowly draped it over herself. She looked back over at Siegfried and saw that he was staring at her. When she caught him, he blushed and looked away. Taki smiled and said, “If it’ll help you concentrate better, I’ve got a spare outfit in my bag on the first floor.”

“Sorry,” mumbled Siegfried.

“I didn’t know you had a thing for older women,” said Taki. She looked at the sword and her eyes narrowed for a second before she dropped her outfit to the ground and walked over to Siegfried. “Or maybe I could help you concentrate by helping you out with this,” she said as she reached down and grabbed Siegfried’s huge erection. “My my,” she said calmly, “Even after you just came, it’s all big again. You must really like me.”

“Well, it’s just that…and…um…” mumbled Siegfried.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Taki as she slowly straddled his hips and eased his cock back into her willing body. They both gasped as Siegfried’s cock moved all the way into Taki. The tip of his cock fit snugly up against her cervical opening and their hips were touching. “We fit perfectly together…don’t we?” asked Taki shyly with a smile. She playfully twisted her hips a little, making them both groan before gently placing his hands on her hips as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She kissed him softly on the lips before hugging him tightly and whispering, “Just go at whatever pace you want. It’s okay.”

Siegfried looked at the beautiful woman that was willing to have sex with him merely to help him focus and felt like pinching himself. He could feel her breasts pressing into his chest and could feel her light breathing on the back of his neck. And, most of all, he could feel how her feminine channel was gently squeezing his cock. He was in heaven. He turned his head and smelled her hair. It smelled like cherry blossoms mixed with sweat. He was so engrossed with thinking about her that it took him a short while to realize that she was speaking to him. “I’m sorry, what?” he asked.

Taki pulled away and looked into Siegfried’s eyes as she asked. “What’s the matter? Am I not good enough for you?”

Siegfried was stunned when he saw a tear slide down Taki’s cheek. “No!” he said, “That’s not it at all! I was just…” He stammered and blundered, trying to find something to say. (Just because you’re a bad ass on the battlefield, doesn’t change the fact that all men are inherently dorks when it comes to women they care about.)

Taki smiled and kissed him again, saying, “I was only teasing.”

“Don’t do that to me,” muttered Siegfired as he blushed again. “You’re not helping me concentrate by playing mind games with me, you know.”

“Maybe not, but I always enjoy sex more when it’s fun and playful,” said Taki with a grin. “So I always try to just have fun when I’m not doing it for a mission.”

Siegfried smiled. “It’s good to know that I’m not just a mission then,” he said, making her blush. He gripped her around the waist with his clawed hand and started to slowly thrust his hips up. Taki sighed softly as he used his human hand to gently knead and rub her ass cheeks. She rested her head on his shoulder and moaned happily, letting him do all of the work.

Taki was enjoying herself very much. She had never had a guy want to fuck her slowly before, and was enjoying the new sensation of long, languid, yet powerful stroking that Siegfried was doing. They went at it like that for a few minutes before Taki cried out as she came. She panted heavily into Siegfried’s chest, a little surprised that he was still moving at the same pace. She looked up into his eyes and saw that he was smiling down at her. “You’re very good,” she moaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Siegfried slowly laid back onto the floor as Taki’s tongue started to probe his mouth. He returned his in kind as his human hand slowly rubbed up and down her back. She purred softly as she nuzzled her face into his chest.

“I should be,” said Siegfried with a small sad smile, “My body has been used to rape many a woman for the past 7 years.”

“I’m sorry for bringing that up,” said Taki softly. She placed her hands on Siegfried’s chest and pushed herself up as she started to rock her hips along with his.

“Hey now,” said Siegfried as she started to move faster, “I thought you wanted me to set the pace.”

“Sorry…can’t…handle…Cumming!!!” cried Taki as she arched her back and clamped down on Siegfried’s cock. Her entire body went through spasms as she rocked her hips furiously onto Siegfried’s, finally culminating in a scream that should have shattered the windows of the chapel. She let out a small squeak as she fell forward onto his chest and lay there, exhausted. Siegfried wrapped his arm around her trembling body even as he continued to thrust into her.

Siegfried slowly rolled them over onto Taki’s back so he could thrust into her more smoothly. He stared at her face and loved the look she had. Her eyes were closed and she was panting heavily. Sweat covered her face and there were hints of tears at the corners of her eyes. He lightly tickled her stomach, making her giggle and look at him. He leaned in and kissed her. She stiffened slightly before moaning and holding him tightly to her. “You are so beautiful,” whispered Siegfried.

Taki whimpered in reply as tears started flowing down her cheeks. “I…I…oh god…again?!” she moaned as another orgasm hit her. This time Siegfried stopped moving in her and held her down, gently groping her breasts as she rode out her orgasm.

“I’m almost there myself,” said Siegfried as Taki slowly came down and he started thrusting into her again. “Are you ready for it?”

“Yes, please,” sobbed Taki. “I’m ready, give it to me!” She gasped as Siegfried grabbed her legs and pushed them up over her body, before placing his arms on either side of her and thrusting into her at a manic pace. Taki cried out in pleasure as her entire body was rocked by his savage thrusting. Siegfried leaned in and took one of Taki’s breasts into his mouth. He gently sucked and chewed on her nipple before moving over to it’s pair. Taki moaned and groaned as pleasure shot through her entire body. She tried to thrust her hips up to meet his, but found, to her utter surprise, that she couldn’t keep up with him. “So good…” she moaned, “So fucking good…! Oh my god! Don’t stop! Fuck me! Please!”

Siegfried growled as he moved faster and slammed harder into her. “Whatever you say…” he grunted.

His hips were a blur now, moving so fast that Taki was unsure of when he was moving in or out. The pleasure was incredible, and she came again and again. “Fill me up!” she screamed.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” roared Siegfried as his body stiffened and he came, shooting his hot cum into Taki. Taki screamed with ecstasy as she felt his cock shove as deeply into her as he could and then felt his cum splashing into her womb. She screamed and moaned and cried out as her body spasmed uncontrollably. Her arms flew out and pulled Siegfried tightly to her as they both rode out their orgasms. When it was over they both collapsed into each other, just holding each other for as long as they could. Taki was still basking in the afterglow when Siegfried tilted her head up and he kissed her. “I love you…my savior…” he murmured.

Taki swallowed and said, “I’ll kill Inferno for you…Good night, and good-bye.” Siegfried looked confused before his head slowly sank down and he fell on top of her, lightly snoring. Taki trembled as she pushed Siegfried off of her. She looked down at him, and tears came to her eyes. She hadn’t expected that to happen. She had just wanted him out of the way while she defeated Inferno, but…he said he loved her. No one had ever said that to her before. Well…no one who really meant it, at any rate. The strange thing was she felt the same way he did. Unlike when she seduced Mitsurugi, she hadn’t been play acting with Siegfried. All of her pleasure had been real. He had actually managed to make her feel the way she had always been forced to fake before. She bit her bottom lip before shaking her head and leaping down to the first floor. She quickly put on another set of leather armor, covering it with a black body suit that reached her knees and a green jacket. She tossed her old shoes into her bag and pulled out a pair of white socks and a pair of white shoes. She put them on and made sure her two swords were in place before leaping back up to the balcony and grabbing Soul Edge by the hilt. The sword was so weak that it had no chance of possessing her, so she pulled it out of the ground, holding both it and the Soul Edge shards.

“Thou possess all of our shards,” boomed a voice from the giant stained glass window on the back wall. “Give them back to us so we can get more souls!!!”

“What?!” cried Taki as she whirled around only to see the chapel melt away, revealing a barren and bleak landscape surrounded by flames. The ground was a charred black and veins of red snaked all over. She looked around carefully, noticing that there appeared to be rocky mountains on every horizon, but they disappeared if she attempted to get close. The entire area was very hot (duh) and Taki found herself having to wipe sweat from her brow very quickly. “Wait…if this is…Siegfried!!!” She whirled around and looked at where she had left the warrior dozing and groaned when she saw that he had been dragged to the hellish world as well. “Where are we?!” she shouted angrily.

“Thou art in Tartaros!” growled the voice she had heard before. “We must thank thee for freeing us from our bonds! Now die!”

Soul Edge pulled from her grasp and the shards of the sword sprang from the bag, fusing with the sword. “No!” she screamed as Soul Edge started to glow and the eye that she had stabbed slowly opened, fully healed. The sword plunged into the earth as the ground behind it burst open, spewing out hellfire. A figure slowly emerged from the hole, clawing it’s way up to the surface, and standing before the sword. Taki shivered as she felt the immense evil radiating from it. “Inferno…” she whispered.

The creature was tall and was covered with flames that licked and whirled around an external skeleton that appeared to be made of metal. Light blue electricity arched around it’s ankles and she could see that there was some sort of muscle growing on them. The torso had a pulsating mass of what looked like a combination of muscle tissue and brains. And there, caught in it’s rib cage, was the holy sword; Soul Calibur. The sword had been rumored to have been caught in the same void that Inferno was, and now it was held captive by Inferno itself. Taki growled in frustration as she looked up at Inferno’s ‘face’ which was nothing more than a simulacrum of a head surrounded by more metallic bones. But, as she stared at it, a face did slowly appear. A flaming skull slowly emerged from the fire and roared at Taki as Inferno grasped Soul Edge in it’s hands and pointed the blade at her.

Taki swallowed as she twirled Rekki-Maru in her hands before placing the hilt of the sword against the flat of her hand and pulling them back, so she’d be ready to strike at a moment’s notice. “I’m ready for you, any time,” she said as she slowly moved around it, trying to keep it’s attention on her and not on Siegfried. “I’ll take you down and make the world safe again.” Taki started when she heard Inferno chuckle. “What’s so funny?”

“Thou art frightened,” hissed Inferno. “Thou worriest too much about others, when yourself is what thou should fear for.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Taki defiantly.

“Dost thou take us for a fool?!” screeched Inferno. “We know that thou art attempting to keep our attention away from yonder youth. Do not worry; we have no intention of retaking him. He will die right after you. Then we will seek out those who attempted to halt our return and make them suffer!”

Taki shuddered as she thought back to all of those who had fought so hard. “Sophitia, Cassandra, Yoshimitsu, Maxi, Xianghua, Kilik, Ivy, Yunsung, Seung Mina, Raphael, the priestess girl, her monster companion…even Mitsurugi…” she shuddered at the thought of being partly responsible for any of their deaths. “No!” she said angrily. “It will stop right here…with me!”

“You mean, with us,” said a voice behind her. Taki closed her eyes and sighed before looking back at Siegfried. “I still have enough demonic blood in me to resist the influence of that lipstick of yours,” he said calmly as he stood next to her and flexed his monstrous arm. “I’m still a little groggy, but I can fight too.”

“You don’t have a weapon!” cried Taki.

“Don’t need one,” said Siegfried as he raised his fists.

“Okay…but you might need some armor…or at least some clothing!” said Taki.

“No time to worry about that now,” said Siegfried as Inferno roared at them again. “He’s coming.”

“How amusing,” rumbled Inferno, “The puppet doth come back for it’s death! We shall make it painful!” Inferno leapt into the air and spun around like a top, before flying towards the two. Taki and Siegfried barely got out of the way as Soul Edge buzzed past them.

“I remember that move a little too well…” muttered Siegfried as he got up and struck. Unfortunately, he was still groggy from before and his attacks were slow. Inferno easily dodged his blows, but whenever he tried to strike back, Siegfried’s monstrous hand seemed to appear at the last minute and hold it back.

“Why dost thou fight us?!” roared Inferno, seemingly to the hand. “Thou art part of us!”

“Maybe it just doesn’t want to die,” growled Siegfried.

“It’s smart enough to know that if Siegfried dies, it will too!” shouted Taki as she struck from behind. Rekki-Maru stabbed between Inferno’s ribs and hit soft tissue. The creature roared in pain as it back-handed Taki away.

“Taki!” cried Siegfried.

“I’m okay,” said Taki as she slowly got up. “But watch out for it’s punch. It’s stronger than it looks.”

“Now!” roared Inferno. It swung it’s sword around while Siegfried’s attention was diverted and smacked him away. “We will destroy you for your betrayal. But, thou must be alive to feel the agony as we kill your beloved!”

“I won’t go down that easily,” said Taki as she leapt into the air and struck at Inferno.

Inferno easily caught her and threw her to the ground. “We are Soul Edge!” it sneered, “You held pieces of Soul Edge. Did thou not think that we wouldn’t have memorized your fighting style?” It twirled Soul Edge around once or twice before it shrunk and split into two smaller blades. “Or wouldst thou prefer it if we fought like this?” Inferno melded the twin blades together so they became a long katana.

Taki shivered as she took a step back. Fighting Inferno would be like fighting an entire army of foes, all with different fighting styles, strengths and weaknesses. “I’ll still kill you!” she said.

Inferno replied by rushing in and punching her in the stomach. “We highly doubt that,” it said as Taki crumpled to the ground. Inferno looked down at Taki and prepared to strike her down when it suddenly had an interesting thought. “Maybe we should see what all the fuss is about first,” it muttered. It twirled Soul Edge around before sheathing the sword in it’s crotch.

“What?” croaked Taki as she watched the sword plunge into Inferno’s crotch before a sudden realization and horror filled her. “No!” she screamed. “No! Get away from me!” She tried to scramble away, but Inferno easily held her in place with one hand. The other hand quickly ripped the crotch from her outfit. “Oh god, no!” sobbed Taki. “Siegfried…help!”

Inferno looked back at Siegfried’s unconscious form and laughed harshly. “The puppet will not be helping anyone, least of all thou,” it said nastily. It placed the tip of it’s hilt-shaped phallus up against Taki’s entrance before looking into her tears-stained and fear-filled face.

“Don’t, please…I’m begging you!” whimpered Taki.

“Beg all you want!” roared Inferno happily as it rammed itself into her, “The more pain thou suffer, the stronger we become!” Taki’s face paled as a shriek of pure agony ripped itself from her throat. The phallus was bigger than anything she’d ever taken before and was intensely hot. “Yes!” cried Inferno, “Scream, bleed, feel unearthly pain! It’s so pleasurable to us!”

“Stop it!” cried Taki. Inferno’s brutal thrusting made it feel like she would be pulled inside out. “You’re going to kill me! Stop!”

“No, thou won’t die,” said Inferno as it looked deep into Taki’s eyes. “Thou will slowly start to enjoy the pain. We won’t cum until thou dost. And when thou dost, your soul will be ours for eternity!”

Taki shuddered in fear and loathing. “I’ll never cum from such…such…oh god…what’s happening?!” she moaned.

Inferno smiled to itself. Hypnosis was so easy to use on lower life-forms. And they didn’t get much lower than humans. “Absorbing souls through this method could prove…very pleasant,” mused Inferno as it watched Taki scream and cry out in pain as well as in pleasure.

“It hurts!” screamed Taki. “Stop! Oh god…You’re gonna rip me in half!”

“Thou art close,” said Inferno. “We canst feel it! Dost thou want to cum?! We can force you to.” It’s savage thrusting increased in tempo, making Taki scream louder and moan longer. “Cum for us…and then come to us…” hissed Inferno before it felt a hand clamp down on it’s shoulder. “What?!” it roared before a huge clawed hand burst through it’s chest and grabbed the hilt of Soul Calibur.

“You stupid bastard,” snarled Siegfried as he ripped Soul Calibur from Inferno’s chest, pulling it off of Taki in the process, and tossing the creature away.

“Siegfried…” whimpered Taki as she laid, trembling on the ground, blood trickling from her ravaged hole. “Finish him…in my place…”

Siegfried’s eyes widened as Taki let out a shuddering breath, her head falling limply to the side. “Taki?!” cried Siegfried as he gently held her. He placed his head against her chest and sighed with relief when he felt her heartbeat; soft, but still there. He laid her back down on the ground before rearing up and looking at Inferno. “I’m done with nightmares!” he said as he held up Soul Calibur with his clawed hand. A light shone from the blade and streamed down Siegfried’s arm. When the light was gone, the sword had transformed into a huge Zweihander type blade and his arm was back to normal.

“Thou hast no chance against us!” roared Inferno as it pulled Soul Edge out and turned it into the same type of weapon. “Not with that pathetic human body of yours!”

“We’ll just see about that!” said Siegfried with a smile. “You may have tried to infuse this blade with your evil by sealing it within yourself for the past four years, but it is still the ultimate blade created with the express purpose of destroying you!” Siegfried and Inferno stared at each other for a minute before they both charged, roaring battle cries that would have shook the heavens if they weren’t so close to hell. Inferno’s blade drew sparks from the ground as it swung up from below while Siegfried’s sword sliced through the air as it came down from above. The two swords met as the two warriors pooled all of their fighting spirits into their blades. After what felt like an eternity, but what was only a split-second, Soul Calibur sliced through Soul Edge before stabbing into Inferno. Inferno shrieked in pain as Siegfried pulled Soul Calibur from it’s body and sliced into it again and again. “Die you monster!” roared Siegfried as he swung cleanly through the monster’s head, chopping it off.

Inferno’s dying body roared and screamed as it’s muscles decayed and it’s bones melted away. The flames continued to twist and flail about as they slowly rose into the air. Siegfried stepped back as he watched the flames before they became too bright and he had to shield his eyes. That was when the explosion happened. The body of Inferno shattered, sending small flames every which way, and sending out a massive shockwave. When Siegfried looked up again, he saw that he was back at the chapel. “We’re back…” he said quietly before he suddenly remembered that there was someone that needed attention. “Taki!” he cried as he looked around. He saw her by the wall full of unbroken windows, slowly pushing herself up and leaning on the wall.

“I’m okay,” she muttered as she slowly reached down and gingerly touched her lips. She flinched as pain coursed through her body. “But, I’m not walking any time soon.” She smiled at Siegfried before slowly closing her eyes and sliding down the wall into a sitting position. She opened her eyes again when she felt him sit down next to her and wrap his arm around her shoulder. “You did it,” she said. “You beat him.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” said Siegfried. Taki blushed and smiled. “I couldn’t have done it without any of the others either. Each one of them infused their positive mental energies into those shards of Soul Edge, and thereby weakened Inferno’s hold on Soul Calibur.” Siegfried looked down at Taki’s face and saw that she looked a little disappointed. “Hey,” he said as he slowly lifted her chin up to look at him. “That doesn’t mean that I didn’t need your help most of all, my beautiful savior.” He leaned in and kissed her, making sure it was on the cheek. “I’m not taking any chances this time,” he said with a grin.

Taki laughed merrily before wincing. She reached up a hand and wiped the lipstick from her lips before smiling shyly at Siegfried. “You can go ahead now,” she said. Siegfried chuckled as he kissed her. The love the two felt radiated from them and was absorbed and magnified by Soul Calibur, and while most of the world had no clue about what had just transpired, there were a few warriors out there, who not only understood, but were touched by what they felt.

Sophitia looked up from her gardening and gently smiled as she felt the horrific evil dissipate from the earth, only to be replaced by an overwhelming feeling of love and good will. “Good for you Taki,” she said to herself, “You finally found someone.”

Nadia flinched as she heard a knock on her door. She sighed as she slowly walked past the five stuffed Lizardman heads hanging on her wall and opened the door. “Yes, I know, the sword is gone,” she said. “How’s Astaroth?”

“He’ll be reborn in about a month,” replied the acolyte.

“Very good,” said Nadia. “Keep me informed on his progress, and bring the real Lizardman back here in case something happens.” The acolyte bowed and left. Nadia slowly closed the door and smiled wanly. “Checkmate, Sophitia…” she said.

Xianghua suddenly turned from what she was doing and smiled warmly. She looked over at Kilik and saw that he was doing the same thing. “Hey,” hissed Maxi. “It’s nice about the sword and all but don’t you two have something to say?”

Xianghua and Kilik both blushed and looked down before Xianghua quietly said, “I do.”

Kilik looked into Xianghua’s eyes and said, “I do.”

“You may kiss the bride,” said the priest next to them. Kilik and Xianghua smiled happily as they kissed each other for the first time as man and wife.

Raphael and Ivy were sitting quietly in front of a fire, Amy sleeping peacefully in their laps. “It’s finally over,” sighed Ivy calmly. “I am truly free.”

Raphael smiled and said, “I hope that doesn’t mean you intend to leave us.”

Ivy smiled and kissed him as she stroked Amy’s hair. “I don’t intend to leave this happiness any time soon,” she said.

Cervantes finally crawled out of the pit and snarled, “Not bad, humans. Soul Edge may have been defeated, but as long as people like me exist, it will never truly die!”

Yunsung and Seung Mina stopped in the middle of a training bout and stared off towards the west. “What is the meaning of this?” demanded Han Myong. “Finish your duel!” Yunsung and Seung Mina looked at each other before quickly bowing towards the feeling of joy that had washed over them and getting back to their fight.

In Italy, a huge whirlpool appeared off the coast as a huge island slowly emerged from the water. Voldo held onto the lever that reversed the fake self-destruct that the others had been fooled into using, before checking his wound to see how it was healing. He slowly walked into the next room where his real master was sitting, waiting for Voldo to appear so he could give his orders. His master was so clever; he had a back-up plan for everything. But that girl attacked who she thought was his master. He would make her pay if they ever met again.

“Uh…mom?” called Cassandra tremulously as she stood outside her house, holding Yoshimitsu’s hand tightly, “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” They both stopped dead as the feeling of love swept over them and they suddenly felt no fear about talking to her mother anymore. They smiled and nodded at each other as they went inside.

The spirit of Charade looked down at Cassandra and smiled warmly as it bowed to her as thanks for her part in freeing it from it’s captivity.

Mitsurugi sighed heavily as he held out a small sake cup, allowing a single cherry blossom to fall into it. “A toast to an old rival,” he said with a hint of a smile on his face. He drank the sake in one gulp before tossing the cup away and roaring, “But, the next time you get in my way, I won’t go so easy on you!”

In the ruins of an old coliseum, a small girl was saying goodbye to someone that she hadn’t known for long, but who she considered to be a dear friend if not something much more important. “If it weren’t for you, I would have never stood a chance against those two,” she said quietly. “Thank you so much.” Talim threw her arms around Necrid’s waist and hugged him tightly, pleading, “Please, don’t go. I’ll miss you…Don’t leave me…” Necrid grumbled something to her as he gently pushed her away. He patted her head and grinned at her before slipping inside the portal to the void behind him. Talim forced a smile as she watched the portal vanish, but as soon as it was gone, she broke down into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. “I love you,” she sobbed as she fell to her knees and hugged her arms tightly.

In a bar in England three travelers were saying good-bye to each other. Link cheerfully waved at the other two before running outside and playing a cheerful tune on his ocarina. The others looked on as a small tornado appeared out of nowhere, scooped up Link and vanished without a trace. “That son of a bitch is gonna be so pissed,” said Spawn.

Heihachi laughed and said, “There is no way to please everyone.” Spawn shrugged as the two slowly disappeared, going back to their own time periods.

The world had been saved by a small group of warriors from different countries and walks of life. Some had agendas of their own and some merely wanted to stop a sword from destroying the world. But, in the end, each of them played a huge part in the destruction of the sword, even those who didn’t hold the shards for very long. Taki and Siegfried slowly pulled away from their kiss and quietly looked out at the blue sky that was in front of them. “I felt them all,” said Taki.

“Me too,” said Siegfried.

“So, what do we do now?” asked Taki.

“Well, I could always introduce you to mom,” said Siegfried. Taki looked at him, the shock apparent on her face. “Admittedly, I still have to go and show her that I’m still alive. I have to tell her about father too.”

Taki gently placed her hand on Siegfried’s cheek and smiled at him. “I’ll be there to help,” she said.

“Thank you,” said Siegfried. “But first, I think we should look into getting some clothes!” The two laughed but didn’t move to get up, they were both happy to just spend as much time together as they could, knowing that the world was at peace.

The End

(Well, sort of… I’ve got an epilogue coming up, but this is the end of the main storyline. I just didn’t feel it was fair to leave Talim only as an afterthought in Taki’s chapter, so she’s getting the epilogue. Yay! Talim and Necrid fun! See you soon!)